Williamses will play Sunday

Kevin and Pat Williams continue to await a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit regarding their potential four-game suspensions in the long-running StarCaps case, but one thing has been cleared up.

The Pro Bowl defensive tackles will be able to play Sunday in the Vikings' regular-season opener in Cleveland. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed this to be the case this afternoon in an e-mail that read, "The suspensions will not be enforced for this weekend."

It remains uncertain when a ruling will be issued. A three judge panel from the Eighth Circuit heard from both the NFL and the Williamses' representatives on Aug. 17 and the panel's chairwoman, Judge Diana Murphy, said they would rule in "due time, keeping in mind the start of the season."

That ruling has yet to come, so at some point the players need to know they can play in the upcoming game. Whichever side loses this case would have the chance to appeal it to the full Eighth Circuit panel and after that they could attempt to take it to the Supreme Court.